Current / Recent Books

[sahgwa]

I'm a big fan of William R. Forstchen's "One Second After" series, even though I found "The Final Day" to be too predictable and rushed, I picked up his latest installment, "Five Years After". I haven't read it yet but it's on my list.

Some regular reads (at least yearly):

The aforementioned "Revelation Space" series by Alastair Reynolds

"Starship Troopers" by Heinlein

"Old Man's War" by John Scalzi

"Lucifer's Hammer" by Pournelle & Niven

"The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman

"The Last Centurion" by John Ringo

Is Starship Troopers a case where the book is a billion times better than the film?

[sahgwa]

Today's random Zen offering:

Flower Shower
 Subhuti was Buddha's disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, the viewpoint that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity.
 
One day Subhuti, in a mood of sublime emptiness, was sitting under a tree. Flowers began to fall about him.
"We are praising you for your discourse on emptiness," the gods whispered to him.
 
"But I have not spoken of emptiness," said Subhuti.
 
"You have not spoken of emptiness, we have not heard emptiness," responded the gods. "This is the true emptiness." And blossoms showered upon Subhuti as rain.
---------
I also glanced through by book case and there is this book that I do not recall how I acquired it, it is 'Tales of Mystery & Imagination, by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Illustrated in Color by Arthur Rackham. Hardcover, printed 1987 and it's in great condition and beautifully illustrated.

I like those koans, if you wanna call them that.  What book is that; author/publisher?

[quintessentone]

I like those koans, if you wanna call them that.  What book is that; author/publisher?

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings - compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki (the "homeless monk") from the Shambala Pocket Classics

"The first Zen patriarch, Bodhidharma, brought Zen to China from India in the sixth century. According to his biography, recorded in the year 1004 by the Chinese teacher Dogen, after nine years in China, Bodhidharma wished to go home and gathered his disciples about him to test their apperception.

Dofuku said: "In my opinion, truth is beyond affirmation or negotiation, for this is the way it moves."

Bodhidharma replied: "You have my skin."

The man Soji said: "In my view, it is like Ananda's sight of the Buddha-land - seen once and for ever."

Bodhidharma replied: "You have my flesh."

Doiku said: "The four elements of light, airiness, fluidity, and solidity are empty (i.e., inclusive) and the five skandhas are no-things. In my opinion, no-thing (i.e., spirit) is reality."

Bodhidharma replied: "You have my bones."

Finally, Eka bowed before the master - and remained silent.

Bodhidharma replied: "You have my marrow."
------------

Apperception meaning:  the mental process by which a person makes sense of an idea by assimilating it to the body of ideas he or she already possesses.

""Ananda" (आनंद) means "bliss" or "joy" in Sanskrit and Pāli, and it's a significant term in Indian philosophy, particularly in the context of the Upanishads and Vedanta, where it represents the supreme state of the individual self."

"In Buddhist philosophy, "skandhas" (also known as "khandhas") refer to the five aggregates or "heaps" that make up a person's mental and physical existence, which are matter, sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness."

[UltraBudgie]

Smarty books

Recent read: Bhakti: The Yoga of Love by Gregor Maehle. What it says on the box. An exploration of the psychological nuances involved in transforming human love into divine love. I enjoy the way he writes. It is personable and unpretentious and very knowledgeable.




Upcoming read: All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life by David Bentley Hart. An exploration of the mystery of consciousness written in the form of a Platonic dialogue. Had this for a while and I've read a little. Savoury. Going to take it to the lake and read while on vacation. I enjoy the way he writes. It is aloof and pretentious and very knowledgeable.

[Jerome]

'American Cosmic' and 'Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences", both books by Diana Walsh Pasulka

[Moon68]

Is Starship Troopers a case where the book is a billion times better than the film?

Absolutely! Paul Verhoeven hated Heinlein and admitted to only reading about 7 pages of the book. The movie was meant to be an indictment on Heinlein's ideologies, portraying that world as some fantasy Nazi regime.


He failed terribly but made an enjoyable movie that made many people pick up the book for the first time.

[sahgwa]

Absolutely! Paul Verhoeven hated Heinlein and admitted to only reading about 7 pages of the book. The movie was meant to be an indictment on Heinlein's ideologies, portraying that world as some fantasy Nazi regime.


He failed terribly but made an enjoyable movie that made many people pick up the book for the first time.

I am not surprised. The movie was fun but definitely 'cheap' and sort of shallow, though I haven't seen it since it was new really.
I have to read that story :)

[Karl12]

Can I just shamelessly recommend this new intellectual SCI-FI book - it's written by Michael Faber who is an outstanding 'normal' author in his own right - apparently he just dipped his toe into sci-fi and came up with this lol.

Mind-blowng novel and believe me I read a lot of books - Faber allowed the audiobook on YT and the lady narrator does a truly remarkable job.






Cheers.

[sahgwa]

Can I just shamelessly recommend this new intellectual SCI-FI book - it's written by Michael Faber who is an outstanding 'normal' author in his own right - apparently he just dipped his toe into sci-fi and came up with this lol.
Mind-blowng novel and believe me I read a lot of books - Faber allowed the audiobook on YT and the lady narrator does a truly remarkable job.

Sure!
I really enjoyed the film!
Have you seen it?
Nice and creepy and good alien vibe.

[Oldcarpy2]

Dragons Egg by Robert L Forward.

"Dragon's Egg is a 1980 hard science fiction novel by American writer Robert L. Forward. In the story, Dragon's Egg is a neutron star with a surface gravity 67 billion times that of Earth, and inhabited by cheela, intelligent creatures the size of sesame seeds who evolve, live, and think a million times faster than humans. Most of the novel, from May to June 2050, chronicles the cheela civilization beginning with its discovery of agriculture to advanced technology and its first face-to-face contact with humans, who are observing the hyper-rapid evolution of the cheela civilization from orbit around Dragon's Egg."